SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

State of the Basin Report - 2003Flood forecasting in the Lower Mekong BasinEvery year starting in mid-June, the Mekong River Commission broadcasts daily informationon flood risks at key points along the Mekong mainstream in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand,and Viet Nam. This information is made available on the MRC website, www.mrcmekong.org,until the end of the flood season in late October or November.This important part of MRC’swebsite aims to provide themost up-to-date informationavailable about current andforecasted hydrologicalconditions in the MekongBasin, and presents this in aneasily-understandablemanner. Clicking on the pointfor each monitoring station ona digital map providesinformation on daily waterlevels as well as a 5-dayforecast of water levels. Thesedata are shown both on aschematic cross-section foreach station and on a graph.Each station’s point on themap of the lower basin and ona list of stations is colourcodedto show three levels ofwarning – “no warning”, “alarm level” and “flood level”. For each station, the website alsomakes available a series of maps in different scales which depict areas of flood risk, land useand topography. The MRC website also provides maps for the basin as a whole.MRC oversees the operations of 41 monitoring stations, including two in China. These are alllocated along the Mekong mainstream from Jinghong in China to the Mekong Delta at TanChau, in Viet Nam. Every day throughout the flood season, each monitoring station transmitsinformation on water levels and the previous day’s rainfall to the MRC Secretariat in PhnomPenh. Upon receipt, these data are entered into a mathematical model and then compared withdata from weather maps and rainfall forecasts received from the US National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration (NOAA). Based upon this comparison, a 5-day forecast of waterlevels is made and the results broadcast every day on MRC’s website at 12:00 pm.Between flood seasons – from November to May/mid June – MRC continues to broadcast dataon water levels and 7-day forecasts. This information is updated once a week on a Monday,rather than daily, as is the case during the flood season.MRC is continuously improving its forecasting capability and working closely with partners toensure that forecasts meet communities’ needs and that warnings are effectively and accuratelydisseminated. MRC also encourages agencies and individuals working on disaster preparednessto send enquiries and suggestions directly to MRC, where improvements in flood forecastingare continually being made.280